Ancient Chinese City to Further Protect Its Cultural RelicsLuoyang, an ancient Chinese capital city in central China's Henan Province, will make further efforts to protect the environment and cultural relics in the process of developing its tourism industry.Speaking at a press conference Monday, Liu Xiangshun, director of the city's tourism bureau, said the Luoyang municipal government has established a special committee to supervise the protection of the environment and cultural relics. Liu also said the city plans to invest 3.29 billion yuan (about 400 million US dollars) on infrastructure projects and environmental protection at major tourism spots. According to Liu, Luoyang has eight major historical and cultural sites under state protection. Fifty-four cultural sites are protected by Henan province. The Longmen Grottoes, the White Horse Temple, the tomb of Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. - A.D. 220) are among the attractions. Last year, 76,000 overseas tourists and four million domestic tourists visited Luoyang, generating 16.37 million US dollars in foreign exchange and 2.4 billion yuan (289 million US dollars). Luoyang is also well known for its peonies. The city has over 600 varieties of peonies. The Luoyang peony fair held every year since 1993 attracts millions of Chinese and foreign tourists. |
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